COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s hockey team (15-10-3, 5-6-3-2 B1G) returns to action with a home-and-home series vs. No. 13 Michigan (15-10-3, 7-6-1-1 B1G) this weekend. The Buckeyes and Wolverines will meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor and at 1 p.m. Sunday in Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

Follow AlongThe game Friday will be televised by BTN as part of its Frozen Friday doubleheaders, with Dan Kelly, Rob Andringa and Fred Pletsch on the call. The Sunday matchup will be broadcast by Fox Sports Detroit and available on SportsTime Ohio. Matt Shepard and Darren Eliot will call the action. Both games will be available through BTN2Go online and mobile apps.

IMG/Ohio State radio, with Herb Howenstine and former Buckeye John Mowat on the call, will carry the action as well. Both games will be available live through Buckeye Vision subscriptions on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. The Friday game will be live on 1460 AM in Columbus, with the Sunday matchup tape delayed at 4 p.m. on 1460 AM.

Audio, video and live stats links for the games vs. Michigan, as well as all games throughout the season, are on the men’s hockey schedule or gameday pages (go.osu.edu/mhkygameday) on OhioStateBuckeyes.com, with in-game updates also on Twitter @OhioState_MHKY.

Ticket TalkTickets for the Buckeyes’ game at Nationwide Arena Sunday are available at the arena on gameday. They can also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000, online at ticketmaster.com, in person at any Ticketmaster outlet or at the Ohio State University ticket office in the Jerome Schottenstein Center.

All Ohio State students receive free admission to regular-season home games, including the game at Nationwide Arena, with a valid BuckID.

NWA Parking InformationParking is available for a fee around Nationwide Arena on gameday. A map with parking options is HERE. The garages listed will be $5 for those attending the Buckeyes' game vs. Michigan, beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday. Fans may also view parking options and/or pay for parking on the parking section of the Arena District’s website: arenadistrict.com/parking. The Arnold Sports Festival is going on downtown Sunday and will make the area more congested.

Last Time OutThe Buckeyes are coming off a bye weekend. In their last series, the squad split two games in Value City Arena with Wisconsin. The Buckeyes won the opener, 2-1, with the Badgers skating to a 2-1 win in game two.

Michigan hosted Penn State last weekend, falling in overtime in game one, 5-4, before posting a 5-2 victory in game two.

Buckeye SnapshotOhio State, under first-year head coach Steve Rohlik, is 15-10-3 on the year and is 4-1-2 in its last seven games. The team is 5-6-3-2 in Big Ten play and has three series remaining - home and home with Michigan this week, in Value City Arena vs. Minnesota March 7-8 and at Penn State March 14-15.

The Buckeyes are averaging 3.39 goals a game to rank second in the Big Ten and seventh in the NCAA in scoring offense and are allowing 2.64 goals a contest. Ohio State’s power play is 27-for-124 (.218), ranking 11th nationally and first in the conference, and the penalty kill is 85-for-105 (.810). The team averages 11.1 penalty minutes per game and 33.5 shots on goal per outing, allowing 30.2 shots per game.

Junior Ryan Dzingel leads the team with 17 goals, 21 assists and a Big Ten-best 38 points. Junior Max McCormick is second in goals (11) and points (26) and fourth in assists (15), with classmate Tanner Fritz second with 20 assists and third with 25 points. Junior Nick Oddo has 24 points to rank fourth, along with 17 assists to rank third. Freshman Nick Schillkey is third with nine goals and leads the Buckeye rookies with 19 points, while junior Darik Angeli is fourth with eight goals on the year. Senior Alex Szczechura has also hit the 20-point mark, ranking fifth in points with seven goals and 13 assists. Oddo is first with a +20 mark with Dzingel second at +11. Junior Justin DaSilva has blocked a team-high 65 shots. In goal, three freshmen have picked up wins for the Buckeyes. Christian Frey joined the team in December and has started eight contests (including the last seven), with a 6-2-2 ledger, 2.10 goals-against average and .934 save percentage. Matt Tomkins has a 2.66 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 13 games (12 starts). Logan Davis has played in five games, with four starts, posting a 2.21 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and one shutout.

In the B1GThis season marks the first for men’s hockey as a Big Ten Conference sport. The six teams that make up the league - Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin - each play a 20-game league schedule, facing each opponent twice at home and twice on the road. All six teams advance to the Big Ten Tournament in the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The Top 2 teams receive a bye into the semifinals, with the No. 4 and 5 seeds and No. 3 and 6 seeds meeting in the first round. The tournament champion receives the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

Three weeks remain in the regular season. Minnesota is first with 32 points in 14 games played, followed by Wisconsin in second with 31 points in 16 games. Michigan is third with 23 points in 14 games, with Ohio State three points back, recording 20 points through 14 games. Michigan State has played 16 games and has 19 points and Penn State has seven points in 14 games.

In Nationwide ArenaOhio State is 7-1-3 all-time in games played in Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. The squad last played in NWA Nov. 26-27, 2010, skating to a 2-2 tie and 5-2 loss against Alaska. The team first played in the Blue Jackets’ arena in March 2003 when it swept Nebraska-Omaha in the first round of the CCHA playoffs (4-1 March 14, 3-1 March 15). The Ohio Hockey Classic holiday tournament was held in Nationwide Arena three times. In the 2004 OHC the Buckeyes had a 5-1 win over Minnesota State Dec. 29 and a 1-1 OT tie with Colorado College Dec. 30, while in the 2005 Ohio Hockey Classic the Buckeyes were 1-0-1, with a 4-0 win over Holy Cross (Dec. 29) and a 1-1 OT tie with Miami Dec. 30. The last Ohio Hockey Classic at Nationwide was Dec. 29-30, 2006, when Ohio State claimed the title with wins over Minnesota Duluth (4-1) and Miami (5-3). The squad hosted Denver for a single game in NWA Oct. 16, 2009, a 4-0 Buckeye win.

Buckeyes vs. WolverinesThe series between Ohio State and Michigan dates to 1964, with the teams facing off 118 times in all. The Wolverines have a 74-33-11 record overall, leading 36-14-6 in Ann Arbor, 33-16-5 in Columbus and 5-3-0 in neutral site contests. Michigan leads 8-2 in the last 10 matchups (including wins in the last six games). The Buckeyes and Wolverines faced off in the first Big Ten series between the schools to close the first half of the season. Michigan won 4-3 in overtime in game one in Ann Arbor Nov. 29 and posted a 5-4 victory in Columbus Dec. 2.

Earlier this Season - Ohio State vs. MichiganGame 1 (Nov. 29, Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor): Ohio State and Michigan faced off \in the inaugural Big Ten game for both programs. Ohio State came back from a goal down three times, but the Wolverines prevailed, 4-3, with an overtime tally. Michigan scored 2:51 into the game for an early lead but Ryan Dzingel knotted the score with a power-play goal at 15:46 of the first. The Wolverines scored a power play goal of their own at 6:41 of the second but Ohio State again converted on the power play, with Max McCormick scoring at 14:26. Michigan’s Alex Guptill scored with 17 seconds left in the second for a 3-2 UM lead after 40 minutes. Michigan maintained its one-goal advantage until 16:47 of the third, when Tanner Fritz forced a turnover and set up Anthony Greco for a game-tying (3-3) tally. In overtime, Michigan’s Andrew Copp gave the Wolverines the win, getting through the Buckeye defense for a breakaway and scoring at 3:38. For Ohio State, Fritz and Alex Szczechura both had two assists in the game, with McCormick adding an assist for a two-point night. Ohio State was outshot, 38-35, with freshman Logan Davis making 34 saves and stopping a second-period penalty shot. The Buckeyes converted their two power play chances, with Michigan 1-for-4.

Game 2 (Dec. 2, Value City Arena, Columbus): The Buckeyes lost to No. 3-ranked Michigan, 5-4, Dec. 2 in Value City Arena in the first Big Ten Conference game in Columbus. Despite being outshot 12-4, Michigan led 1-0 after the first period. After Ohio State’s Ryan Dzingel tied the game early in the second, the Wolverines scored three goals in a row, including a score 1:09 after Dzingel’s tally, to take an eventual 4-1 lead at 2:49 of the third period. In the third, Ohio State scored three times in less than four minutes to tie the game at 4 with 5:29 left in regulation. Max McCormick scored on the power play at 10:37, David Gust tallied at 13:13 and Tanner Fritz, who assisted on both the McCormick and Gust scores, tied the game at 14:31 with a power play goal. Michigan’s Mac Bennett pushed the Wolverines back ahead with the eventual gamewinner at 18:25. Dzingel and Fritz each had three-point nights with a goal and two assists.